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AI: The Somnium Files
The mind never lies… In a near-future Tokyo, detective Kaname Date is on the case of a mysterious serial killer. Date must investigate crime scenes as well as dreams on the hunt for clues. From the mind of Kotaro Uchikoshi (''Zero Escape series director), with character design by the Yusuke Kozaki (No More Heroes,'' Fire Emblem series), a thrilling neonoir detective adventure is about to unfold. AI: The Somnium Files (AI —ソムニウム ファイル—, AI —Somuniumu fairu—) is an upcoming mystery adventure game written and directed by Kotaro Uchikoshi, produced by Yasuhiro Iizuka, and developed and published by Spike Chunsoft for the Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, and PC via Steam. It launches on July 25, 2019 for a price of $59.99 for the Standard Edition, and $89.99 for the Special Agent Edition.Via Gematsu: "AI: The Somnium Files launches July 25; interview with director Kotaro Uchikoshi and designer Akira Okada" It was originally revealed at the Game Developer Conference (GDC) on March 2nd, 2017 as PROJECT:psync'Via DualShockers: "Zero Escape Developer Announces New Title Project: Psync", only featuring a teaser image of a robotic eye. Over a year later, at Anime Expo on July 5th, 2018Official Spike Chunsoft & Uchikoshi Panel, the game was officially revealed as ''AI: The Somnium Files at the Spike Chunsoft panel, along with the official trailer, and a special message by one of the characters of the game, Iris Sagan. On January 30th, 2019, a new YouTube channel called Lemniscate was created, where Kotaro Uchikoshi introduced the character Iris Sagan as the Net Idol A-set. This started a set of weekly videos created by A-set set within the universe of AI, adding new information to the world and acting as promotional material for the game. This culminated in a "planned" special appearance by A-set at GDC 2019, but her final video was released on March 20th with a shocking conclusion. The following day, March 21st, the second trailer for the game was revealed. Story One rainy night in November, a woman’s body is found at an abandoned theme park, mounted on a merry-go-round horse. She had been stabbed repeatedly, and her left eye was gouged out. Kaname Date of the Metropolitan Police Department arrives on the scene. He recognizes the woman. Suddenly, he hears a noise from inside the merry-go-round. He breaks into the merry-go-round’s central column to find a young girl. And in her hands, she grips a bloody ice pick... Characters The characters are designed by Yūsuke Kozaki. The characters revealed so far are: * Kaname Date: A detective for the Tokyo MPD working to track down the elusive serial killer. He has heterochromia due to his artificial left eye, which contains an artificial intelligence program named Aiba. This program allows him to venture inside people's "somniums" and extract their memories. * Aiba (AI-Ball) (VA: Erika Harlacher EN; Akari Kito JP): an artificial intelligence residing in Date's left eye. She provides the means to delve into a person's "somnium." * Iris Sagan (VA: Jackie Lastra EN; Nao Shiraki JP): Iris is an internet idol (musician) belonging to the entertainment office Lemniscate. Her stage name is “A-set,” but her fans call her “Tesa." She's the protagonist of her Lemniscate video series. She was apparently murdered by the game's antagonist at the end of the her videos. Her channel exists in real life in the form of two YouTube channels (English and Japanese). * Ota Matsushita (VA: Zach Aguilar EN; Natsumi Fujiwara JP): a 24-year old otaku, who is Iris's friend and A-set's biggest fan. He has an unrequited crush on Iris.Tesa Visits Maid Cafe Sunfish Pocket! * Mizuki (VA: Corina Boettger EN; Tomoyo Kurosawa JP): a 12-year old elementary schoolgirl, she is Iris's closest friend. She trains in martial arts and is considered to be very strong.Tesa's Top 3 Favorite Snacks and Mascots! * Mayumi Matsushita: Ota's mother. She runs the Matsushita Diner.Tesa's Matsushita Diner Review! Omelet Rice Edition! * Renju Okiura: A-set's producer, the president of Lemniscate, and owner of Sunfish Pocket. * Mrs. Sagan: Iris's mom. Not much is known about her at the moment. *The Bloody Polar Bear: the culprit behind these serial murders. *A maid who works at the Sunfish Pocket maid café. *The bartender at a bar called Marble in Golden Yokocho. *At least 8 more characters (based on the boxart). Gameplay Throughout the game, you will play as Date as he explores Tokyo in search for clues, witnesses, and suspects. The game will be split between exploration in the real world and exploration within the dream worlds. Exploring the real world will act as a sort of investigation adventure, where you look for clues and gain testimonies from the interactions with people within a real-world scenario and landscape. Exploring the dream worlds will act as a sort of quick puzzle adventure, with a time limit of 6 minutes, and each person's dreams will be variedly represented and perhaps even act very different from each other. Editions The game is planned to release in two separate editions: a Standard Edition and a Special Agent Edition: Standard Edition The Standard Edition is the version of the game that will be commercially bought without restrictions across all available regions. It will be sold (and currently pre-ordered) at the starting price of $59.99, the standard price for all console video games. It will come with simply the game itself within the standard box, featuring the normal cover art by Yūsuke Kozaki. This version will be available on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, and (digital only) via Steam on July 25th, 2019. Special Agent Edition The Special Agent Edition is an upgraded edition of the game, featuring many add-on parts and collectibles for the game. It will be sold (and currently pre-ordered) at $89.99, and currently it is only available for purchase in North America only. This edition will only be sold for the Nintendo Switch and the Playstation 4, due to it's physical requirements, on July 25th, 2019, corresponding with the standard edition. The Special Agent Edition comes with: * An outer box featuring an original (unrevealed) artwork design by Yūsuke Kozaki * AI: The Somnium Files in its normal box art * THOUGHTS REMaiN BELOW Artbook: 30+ pages of sketches and concept art * REVERIES IN THE RaiN Soundtrack: soundtrack disk from AI: The Somnium Files * An A-set Acrylic Stand: standing at around 6 inches tall * A-set's #1 Fan Stickers: 3 vinyl stickers ** The "A" logo from A-set ** The GEEK logo from Mato's sweater ** The Lemniscate logo Videos Articles and Interviews Here's a list of listed articles and interviews in relation to the game: * DualSHOCKER's GDC 2017 article by Azario Lopez * GAMESPOT's A-set interview by Michael Higham (partially canonical to the universe) * Gematsu's GDC 2019 article and interview by Sal Romano * Medium's GDC 2019 interview by Gabby Snyder (partially canonical to the universe) * Operation Bluebird's GDC 2019 interview * BleedingCool's GDC 2019 article by Madeline Ricchiuto * 4Gamer article post-GDC 2019 (translation summary) * Famitsu article post-GDC 2019 (translation summary) Gallery AI The Somnium Files cover.jpg|Cover art. Features Kaname Date, Aiba in her mascot and human forms, Iris Sagan in color, as well as Ota Matsushita, Mizuki, Renju Okiura, the Marble bartender, a Sunfish Pocket maid, and 8 unknown characters in black-and-white Iris_Sagan.jpg|Iris Sagan Ota_Matsushita.jpg|Ota Matsushita Mizuki.jpg|Mizuki Aiba.jpg|Aiba Date investigating.jpg|Kaname Date Mizuki Night.jpg|Mizuki at night Ota and Mizuki investigating.jpg|Mizuki and Ota finding a tied-down body Iris crying and Date.jpg|Iris crying to Date Iris phone.jpg|Iris on her phone Ota and Iris investigate Marble.jpg|Ota and Iris investigating Marble Date and mystery man.jpg|Trust nobody, not even this random shadow man Mizuki beats mystery man.jpg|Mizuki kicks the shadow man's ass pikachu girl.jpg|The mystery character... Memories of Bear and Iris.jpg|The Bloody Polar Bear about to kill Iris Memories of Bear fighting Ota.jpg|Man vs. Beast Lemniscate Map.jpg|Map of Tokyo; destination: Lemniscate Office The Mind Never Lies.png|Official infographic for the game Special Agent Edition.jpg|Special Agent Edition Trivia * The word "Somnium" is Latin for "dream," which makes the "'''Somnium Files" part of the game's title literally translate to "Dream Files". * The AI in the title has three meanings: ** A.I., the initials for "Artificial Intelligence," much like the A.I. that Date has on him to delve into people's dreams. ** AI, pronounced in english as eye: in reference to the consistent "eye" theme within the game, such as Date's artificial eye which houses his A.I., and the serial killer's M.O. for removing the left eyes of their victims. ** Ai, the romanization for 愛: the Japanese word for "love," which is said to be a central theme of the story. * The game was first announced under the title "PROJECT:psync." While a new title has replaced it since then, the word "PSYNC" still appears in various promotional material for the game, such as the trailer and the official website.AI: The Somnium Files Announcement TrailerAI: The Somnium Files Official Website * In the first trailer and on the main page, a set of keywords can be seen floating about, potentially foreshadowing certain aspects of the game. These include (and some theories regarding them): ** Cyclops Serial Killings/Killer (the name of the murderer and/or the murders themselves*) ** Prisoner No.89 ** Wadjet System (the program Date uses to enter people's dreams*) ** Abandoned Child (the mystery character*) ** Geostationary Satellite X00639 (a real life satellite of unknown origin) ** Endorphin Oxitocin (former: hormone that alleviates pain, latter: hormone connected with love) ** Advanced Brain Investigation Squad (Date's Squad as a detective*) ** Exciting Voltaic Versatile Gun (Date's weapon of use*) ** Chocolate Collector (Iris's obsession with collecting chocolate mascot stickers*) ** Generalized Amnesia ** Bloody Polar Bear (the culprit of the Cyclops Serial Killings)A-set video: rw nw prt m hrw ** Chemical Plant Explosion (an incident that occurred in the Kabasaki District)There's No Way This Trespassing Idol Can Be This Cute! ** Bullet Wound to the Right Shoulder ** Secret Society NAIXATLOZ (a demonic cult) ** Light Synaptic Nerve Connection Device ** ---''one phrase yet to be deciphered''--- ** (*these are just speculative at the moment) * The end of the first trailer features the phrase "Mark 9:47" in one of its few lasts frames. It's a passage from the New Testament in the Bible, which goes as: "And if your eye causes you to fall into sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell." This quote ties in with the game's heavy eye theme. References External Links * Official website * English trailer * A-set's English YouTube channel * A-set's Japanese YouTube channel Category:Media Entry